Department for Transport

*No heading*

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why there are 50 miles per hour speed restrictions on substantial lengths of the M1 where there is limited repair activity taking place; and what is the estimated cost of congestion and pollution caused by such restrictions over the past 12 months.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Highways England’s primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of the travelling public and road workers. To keep traffic moving safely through works, and create as safe a working environment as possible, mandatory 50mph speed limits are put in place for the duration of the construction, whilst maintaining three running lanes during the daytime. Continually lifting and reinstating traffic management would extend the duration of the road works and add to costs.   In addition, a significant amount of work takes place off site and at night, to minimise the disruption that would otherwise occur.　 However, we do recognise that the length of roadworks on the M1 impacts on many drivers’ journeys and Highways England are looking at how they can use shorter lengths of roadworks on future schemes.   The cost of congestion and pollution effects of these roadworks for the past twelve months has not been quantified.

*No heading*

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the funding allocated for the Northern Powerhouse will be spent on (1) repairs of potholes and damaged carriageways, and (2) other highway maintenance that would normally come out of annual revenue budgets; and how much of such spending will be allocated to (a) the Highways Agency, and (b) local highways authorities.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Department for Transport is allocating £1.3billion capital funding between 2015 and 2021 to local highway authorities that fall within the Northern Powerhouse for local highways maintenance. This funding can be used to repair potholes. The funding is not ring-fenced and it is entirely for each highway authority to decide, based on their needs and priorities, as to how this funding is spent. In addition the funding the Department for Transport allocated to local highway authorities in England to improve road conditions was £1 billion more over the last Parliament compared to what was provided between 2005 and 2010.   Local authorities are able to use revenue funding for maintaining their local highways and this is allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant.   The Department for Transport is funding a local highways maintenance project in Sheffield as well as street lighting schemes in Blackpool, Knowsley, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Oldham, Redcar & Cleveland, Rochdale, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Wakefield, through the Private Finance Initiative.   In addition we are also allocating £2.9 billion for improvements to the strategic road network within the Northern Powerhouse managed by Highways England as set out in the Road Investment Strategy published in March 2015 for the period between 2015 and 2020.

Department for Communities and Local Government

*No heading*

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 15 September (HL2049), what proportion of the 275,000 affordable homes they have committed to delivering over the course of this Parliament will be available to rent; and of those, how many will be made available (1) by local authorities, (2) on the private rental market, and (3) as social housing.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The 275,000 affordable homes will be delivered through grant funded and non grant funded delivery.The grant funded 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme, is split between rent and affordable homes ownership products depending on the bids received. The proportion of rental homes delivered through the previous 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/435123/Live_Table_1012.xlsx  



Live Table 1012
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22.26 KB)

*No heading*

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 15 September (HL2049) which committed to helping to protect taxpayers from the rising cost of subsidising rent, what steps they are taking to achieve this commitment.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: We have included provisions in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill currently before Parliament to reduce social rents in England by one percent a year for four years from April 2016. We estimate that by 2020/21 there will be an in-year saving to the tax payer of some £1.4 billion, so helping to protect taxpayers from the rising cost of subsidising rents through housing benefit.

*No heading*

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in considering whether to call in planning applications for schemes involving hydraulic fracturing that have taken longer than 16 weeks to be decided upon, they will count the 16 weeks from (1) the date the application was first received by the Minerals Planning Authority or (2) the date the application was registered; and whether, in either case, they will take into account (a) the timetable agreed between the applicant and the planning authority, even if that is for longer than 16 weeks, (b) delays caused by the failure of the applicant to provide the necessary information, (c) delays caused by defects in the application, (d) delays caused by amendments to the application, (e) an estimate of the additional costs likely to result from calling in the application, and (f) whether a call-in will result in a greater delay than allowing the planning authority to continue to deal with it.

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the case of planning applications for schemes involving hydraulic fracturing that have been determined by the Secretary of State after being called in as a result of the failure of the Minerals Planning Authority to do so within 16 weeks, any conditions that require further approval of details of the scheme will be dealt with by application to (1) the planning authority, or (2) the Secretary of State.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: I refer the noble Lord to the written ministerial statements of 16 September, HLWS194 and HLWS195, which set out a number of measures to enable planning applications and appeals relating to shale gas and oil to be dealt with as quickly as possible. These include a commitment by the Secretary of State to actively consider calling-in shale planning applications. Separately, a scheme has been put in place to identify local planning authority underperformance in respect of their determination of oil and gas planning applications. The scheme uses the same threshold of underperformance set out in the document ‘Improving planning performance – Criteria for designation’, of 50% or fewer applications being made within the relevant statutory time limit, or such extended period as has been agreed in writing by the applicant. The statutory time limit applies once an application has been validated by the local planning authority. Where an authority is identified as underperforming under the scheme, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will actively consider calling-in for his determination oil and gas planning applications that are validated by that authority, in accordance with existing policy. The decision on whether to call-in any application will be taken in line with current call-in policy. Any applications relating to shale gas that are called-in would be prioritised for urgent resolution. If the Secretary of State were to grant a planning permission in respect of a called-in application, then any details of the scheme that are the subject of planning conditions would need to be submitted to and approved by the relevant local planning authority.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

*No heading*

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the intervention by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and whether they are aware of any war crimes committed in relation to that intervention.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The UK is supportive of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition military intervention, which came at the request of President Hadi, to deter aggression by the Houthis and forces loyal to the former president Saleh, and allow for the return of the legitimate Yemeni government. We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and take these very seriously. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian government and have received repeated assurances of IHL compliance and continue to engage with them on those assurances. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and international human rights law. A political solution is the best way to bring long term stability to Yemen and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The UK fully and actively supports the UN’s efforts to achieve an end to the conflict.

*No heading*

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of attacks by the Royal Saudi Air Force on the world heritage sites in Yemen; and whether the United Kingdom supplied any of the arms used in those attacks.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: Both Saudi Arabia and Yemen are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict, and to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. The UK is supplying a range of precision-guided weapons and munitions to assist the Royal Saudi Air Force under pre-existing arrangements. We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and take these very seriously. We have raised our concerns, including protection of cultural property, with the Saudi Arabian government and have received repeated assurances of IHL compliance and continue to engage with them on those assurances. A political solution is the best way to achieve long-term stability in Yemen, and we remain fully and actively supportive of the UN’s efforts to bring an end to the conflict.

*No heading*

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the BBC Newsnight report of 10 September that presented evidence of attacks on civilians in Yemen by the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and take these very seriously. The British Government has always been clear that any action, including military, must be in accordance with IHL. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian government and have received repeated assurances of IHL compliance and continue to engage with them on those assurances. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and international human rights law. A political solution is the best way to bring long term stability to Yemen and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The UK fully and actively supports the UN’s efforts to achieve an end to the conflict.

*No heading*

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are supporting any peace initiatives between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: A sustainable and inclusive political solution is the best way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The UK actively and fully supports the UN’s efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire and a mechanism for the withdrawal of forces, release of political prisoners and the resumption of an inclusive political process in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2216. We urge all sides to work together and engage in good faith in the UN process. We regularly discuss the conflict in Yemen with Saudi Arabian and Yemeni interlocutors; the Special Envoy to Yemen, Sir Alan Duncan, visited Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates from 16 – 21 September to demonstrate the UK’s continued support for a political solution to the crisis in Yemen.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Tickets: Sales

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of the total number of websites that have been shut down with the help of City of London Police to date; and how many websites have agreed to remove Rugby World Cup tickets from their websites as a result of secondary-market operators being in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: It is not possible to give an estimate of the total number of websites that have been shut down with the help of City of London Police. In the financial year 2014-15, 6029 websites were disrupted with the assistance of the City of London Police; and in 2013-14, 2365 websites were disrupted.   Trading Standards have lead responsibility for enforcing the online secondary ticketing provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and information on interventions in relation to websites is not held centrally.

*No heading*

The Earl of Dundee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how frequently, and in what way, they monitor and compare their performance in attracting overseas students to study and work in the United Kingdom with that of other countries; and following such analysis, whether they plan to make adjustments to their current policies.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: Overseas students are welcome in the UK and there is no cap on the number of such students. The OECD’s Education at a Glance, published annually, compares our performance with that of other countries. In 2012, the UK was estimated to have a 13% share of the international student market (OECD, 2014), second only to the US. The Government is committed to increasing education exports from £18bn in 2012 to £30bn by 2020and our International Education strategy is helping to achieve that.

*No heading*

The Earl of Dundee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what comparisons they have made between their current and previous schemes to encourage foreign students to prolong their studies and take up employment with United Kingdom business and industry; and whether, as a result, they plan to amend their current scheme.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: Prior to 2012 international students who successfully completed a degree at a UK institution could apply for permission to work in the UK for two years. This Post-Study Work route was closed from 6th April 2012 as it granted unrestricted access to the UK labour market for two years to non-EEA nationals at a time when a large number of British graduates were unable to find work. The route was also found to be heavily abused with many people taking up low-skilled work rather than the intended graduate level roles. There are no plans to reintroduce this scheme.   The UK has an excellent offer for overseas students graduating from UK universities wishing to remain in the UK. Those with an offer of a graduate-level job, paying a salary of at least £20,800, can take up sponsored employment for up to six years. In 2014 some 11,000 international students switched to skilled work. PhD students can stay in the UK for an extra year, under the Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme, to look for work or start their own business. Graduate entrepreneurs can stay on for up to two years to develop their business in the UK. The Government has also made provisions for graduates wishing to undertake a period of professional training or a corporate internship related to their qualifications, before pursuing a career overseas.

Department for Education

Teachers: Training

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total number of those on Teach First schemes in 2014–15, and how many of them (1) did not take up a teaching career, and (2) did not continue a teaching career after their first year of teaching.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Teach First Leadership Development Programme lasts for two years. The first year is school-based initial teacher training (ITT) where trainees teach a reduced hours timetable; the second year is teaching as a newly-qualified teacher (NQT). Its focus is on bringing into teaching high-quality graduates who are trained to make an impact on children’s attainment over the two-year duration of the scheme. In the 2014 cohort, 1,387 trainees started Summer Institute training. Of these, 1,372 started teaching in schools in September and 1,272 completed year one and gained qualified teacher status (QTS).

*No heading*

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Modern Languages teachers have left the teaching profession in each of the last five years (1) through retirement, and (2) for other reasons.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The information requested is not available.

*No heading*

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of how many teachers qualified to teach Modern Languages leave the profession within the first three years post-qualification.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The information requested is not available.

Ministry of Justice

*No heading*

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the funding and number of legal advice centres of changes to legal aid and advice following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Lord Faulks: We have specifically protected civil legal aid so it remains available where legal help and advice is most needed; where life or liberty is at stake, or where there is a serious risk of harm such as where there is evidence of domestic violence or child abuse. We have commissioned a survey examining how the not-for-profit sector is repsonding to these changes, which we plan to publish by the end of 2015. Furthermore, we have committed to reviewing the legal aid reforms set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 within 3-5 years of implementation.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the invention by Agri-Broadband which has enabled broadband speed to be increased from 1 Mbps to 45 Mbps; and whether such an invention could contribute to equipping rural areas with superfast broadband.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government welcomes the work of companies such as Agri-Broadband who are providing superfast broadband services to rural communities.We recognise that a range of solutions will be required to reach those in the hardest to reach areas. That is why the Government has invested up to £8 million to support seven pilot projects to explore ways to extend superfast broadband beyond 95% of UK premises, with technologies such as satellite and wireless and using alternative financing models.

Home Office

EU Immigration

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they plan to make to European Union ministers at the 14 September meeting on EU migration; and whether they plan to make representations on the issue of co-operation between EU member states, including those outside the Euro or Schengen areas.

Lord Bates: I apologise for the late reply to your question. This is due to the rapid pace of development of the EU response to the migration crisis currently facing the European Union, as demonstrated by the convening of a further extraordinary JHA Council meeting on 22 September.The Luxembourg Presidency of the European Union convened the extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on 14 September in Brussels in response to a joint request that My Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary (Theresa May MP) made with the French and German Interior Ministers. A further extraordinary meeting of the JHA Council was held on 22 September. The Home Secretary attended both meetings on behalf of the United Kingdom.My Rt Hon Friend the Home Secretary will write to the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, and to his counterpart in the European Union Committee, setting out the key decisions taken, and the interventions that my Rt. Hon Friend made, at the Extraordinary JHA Councils that took place on 14 and 22 September. A copy of these letters will be placed in the House library. Additionally, the Commission’s Migration Package has been deposited for scrutiny by both Houses.

Counter-terrorism

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of current counter terrorism legislation; and whether it prevents funding of Syrian non-governmental organisations and faith-based organisations who are best placed to respond to the humanitarian emergency in Syria.

Lord Bates: UK counter-terrorism legislation is kept under constant review to ensure the police and the security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need to tackle all new and existing threats, whether home grown or international. Our continued focus rightly seeks to dissuade individuals from travelling to places of conflict and to work with communities to prevent the radicalisation of individuals. We also seek to ensure that where individuals have undertaken illegal activities, whether at home or abroad, they are not beyond the reach of the law and can be prosecuted.UK counter-terrorism legislation is subject to robust independent oversight. The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, currently David Anderson QC, reviews the legislation and reports his findings to Parliament annually. The Government gives careful consideration to these reports and any recommendations he may make. For example, following a recommendation in his last annual report released in July 2014, officials have opened a dialogue with international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) about their operations overseas and the parameters within which they work. This constructive dialogue is continuing.Ensuring an effective response to humanitarian crises is a key objective for this Government. In line with the key humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, we work with trusted humanitarian partners with experience of operating in fragile and conflict affected states, to ensure that aid is delivered to people on a needs basis. In 2015/16 the Department for International Development is working with 18 humanitarian partners in Syria and 18 partners in neighbouring countries. These include UN agencies, Red Cross/Crescent organisations, INGOs and international financial institutions, who in turn work with local NGOs and civil society organisations. The Government also work with a range of partners utilising the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, including Syrian organisations, INGOs, the private sector, academic institutions, international organisations and other donors. We apply a rigorous process of due diligence, where partners must demonstrate accountable and transparent governance structures and financial procedures, as well as compliance with relevant legislation.